Long Road Home

…to the rest of the underground complex. They found a secret passage and a strange vase of acid, upon rounding the corner of the easternmost passage they came upon a great ogre.

The battle with the beats was fierce and claimed the life of Lugrid. Valiantly striking down the ogre with his bare fists with his last breath. The party said a brief farewell before opening the door it guarded and confront dreagon.

Dreagon refused to help or even talk to the party, so they broke in and defeated him. With his lab in flames, his guardians slain and at the parties mercy, dreagon had no choice but to give the party what they wanted. The party then recovered elanis ring and a scroll of woomroot cleansing. They then left by elanis aid.

Upon returning to elanis hut, they purged atlas of his poison, gave elani her ring back. They also met Ahnarra, one of the catfolk who was to be their guide to the pool of life, the final step to cure atlas.

Upon setting off for the pool the next day, they met a strange monk, who game Toyogawa an alchemy set, Vanak a prayer boon, and Ahnarra a trident. Puzzled by the this the party accepted the gifts and moved on.

Upon the road they came across some bandits at a river, by pretending the be travellers, They were able to suprise the bandits and overpower them, allowing the party to continue on down the road, towards the pool of life…

….An elf answered the door. The sorceress, Eloni, was initially dubious about the parties intentions. After explaining the plight of Atlas, she invited the heroes in, to a welcome warm fire. After consulting a dusty old tome, and with the diagnosis from the party, she said, that Atlas’s chance of survival was grim. The only was to save him she replied, was the bathe him in a pool of life, to restore his body, the location of which she could scry within a few days. The second part was to cast a purging spell(to cleanse the curse), obtainable only from a nearby mage. This mage was an enemy of Eloni, and she asked that while they were in his abode, the party were to recover a pure flawless golden ring that had been taken from her by the mage, long ago.

Eloni gave Vanak a locket, by which she could communicate with him over any distance. She then teleported the party towards the rouge mage, to their surprise they landed in a corridor, with no way out, but onwards. The party came across an old rotting rope bridge, after Vanak crossed it, he was ambushed by giant frogs! Toyogawa skillfully leapt the gap and helped Vanak push back the horrid amphibians. The pair then helped the rest of the party across the bridge. There was a door to the north, the party readied itself for whatever was behind it, Toyogawa slowly opened the door……….

Three young recruits from Adderton, Vanak, Lugrid, Toyogawa and Merderk and signed up to fight a war in the distant city of Kaldroon for the good of their faction. Excited by the prospect of adventure the group treked for seven days to the east, to join other soldiers of Sommelt House. They expected adventure and glory, but they found a long, drawn out battle outside the walls of Kaldroon.

Each took a different roll in battle and each performed exceptionally. Vanak was a medic, both on the frontline and in field hospitals. They fought bravely for almost a month as the war raged on and although many of their fellow warriors died, they were among the lucky few who survived.

Shattered by their experiences, but emboldened by their success, the recruits began their trek home with their friend and commander, Atlas Paldrin. Atlas is a hardy soldier, always ready to lead his troops into battle and to the local tavern. Together, the group have been trekking for a few hours, following a maze of paths through the forest. They are tired but alert for danger and so far there has been no sign of trouble… until they suddenly hear a shout from Atlas ahead of them…

Scouting by Toyogawa revealed the shout was from a wounded atlas, who had been poisoned by wormwood. He also noticed smoke to the east, indicating a possible camp. Unable to treat atlas, the party moved towards the east. After dispatching the wolves on the trail, the parth approached a shack, whereupon Merderk knocked on the door…….